Tag Archives: Nevada County

At its Feb. 22 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $17.9 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 15 approved projects will benefit fish and wildlife—including some endangered species—while others will provide public access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local community.

Funding for these projects comes from a combination of sources including the Habitat Conservation Fund and the Wildlife Restoration Fund. Bond measures approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.

Funded projects include:

A $350,000 grant to the National Forest Foundation for a cooperative project with U.S. Forest Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board to thin approximately 140 acres of forest in the Tahoe National Forest, 10 miles northeast of Truckee in Nevada County.

A $3,030,000 grant to the Northcoast Regional Land Trust to acquire a conservation easement on approximately 15,586 acres of mixed conifer working forest lands that include oak woodland habitat with multiple oak species, for conservation of the natural resources, preservation of wildlife habitat linkages and habitat areas for numerous wildlife species and to help sustain water quality. The project is located near the communities of Maple Creek and Bridgeville in Humboldt County.

A $1,500,000 grant to the California Waterfowl Association for a cooperative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to develop water conveyance infrastructure and enhance wetlands on CDFW’s Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, located approximately 7.5 miles southwest of the town of Gridley in Butte County.

A $1,270,000 grant to the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT), the acceptance of a USFWS Land Acquisition grant, and approval to sub-grant these federal funds to the MDLT to acquire approximately 1,640 acres of land for the protection and preservation of desert riparian and desert tortoise habitats and to protect other listed or protected species that may be present. The project is located near the community of Helendale in San Bernardino County.

$1,865,000 for the acquisition of approximately 328 acres of land by CDFW for a cooperative project with USFWS to protect open space and promote the restoration of critical habitat that supports threatened and endangered species adjacent to the Colorado River and the preservation of a wildlife linkage and corridor from the Colorado River to the Colorado Desert. The project is located north of the city of Blythe in Riverside County and will provide future wildlife-oriented public use opportunities.

A $278,000 grant to the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, for a cooperative project with CDFW to redesign and repair the existing outdoor amphitheater at CDFW’s Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve, located eight miles south of the City of Watsonville in Monterey County.

At its May 21 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $17.8 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 19 funded projects will benefit fish and wildlife – including some endangered species – while others will provide the public with access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, land owners and the local community. The funds for all these projects come from initiatives approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources. Some of the funded projects include:

A $360,000 grant to American Rivers, Inc., for a cooperative project with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), US Forest Service (USFS), Wildlife Conservation Society, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Alpine Watershed Group, for ecological restoration of the West Fork Carson River in CDFW’s Hope Valley Wildlife Area and the USFS’s Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, 12 miles south of South Lake Tahoe in Alpine County.

A $450,000 grant to the Redwood Community Action Agency for a cooperative project with Humboldt and Del Norte County Agriculture Departments, California Department of Transportation, California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Yurok Tribe, to eradicate non-native knotweeds and other invasive species at more than 100 locations in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

A $1.6 million grant to Pacific Forest Trust to acquire a conservation easement over approximately 3,468 acres of land to protect of a mixed conifer working forest and habitat linkages located near the community of Montague in Siskiyou County.

A $2.1 million grant for the acquisition of a conservation easement over approximately 1,447 acres of land by CDFW for a cooperative project with The Trust for Public Land, to protect native oak woodlands habitat near Penn Valley in Nevada County.

A $465,000 grant to the Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District for a cooperative project with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, California Conservation Corps, State Coastal Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and a private landowner, to restore riparian habitat in areas critical to special status amphibian and fish species, located on two coastal watersheds in Santa Cruz County.

A $568,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy for a cooperative project with the National Park Service to eliminate Argentine ants from Santa Cruz Island, approximately 20 miles west of Ventura Harbor in Santa Barbara County.

West Fork Carson River in CDFW’s Hope Valley Wildlife Area and the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, in Alpine County. WCB photoNon-native knotweeds and other invasive species found in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Photo by Monica WalkerButte Creek in Siskiyou CountyInvasive Argentine ants warning on Santa Cruz Island, in the Santa Barbara Channel.Riparian habitat in areas critical to special status amphibian and fish species, in a coastal watershed in Santa Cruz County. WCB photoNative oak woodlands habitat near Penn Valley in Nevada County. WCB photo